Illumination – With static structure – Pavement
Patent
1989-01-09
1990-03-27
Lazarus, Ira S.
Illumination
With static structure
Pavement
362364, 362376, F21V 1500
Patent
active
049126105
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an airfield marker light, e.g., for runways or taxi strips, comprising a casing to be flush-mounted in the ground and having an upper, at least partially transparent cover plate with an upper, substantially planar surface to be placed substantially flush with the ground plane, wherein the casing includes at least one light source and optical means so adapted that one or more light beams are emitted from at least one portion of the cover plate, said portion constituting an active zone, whereas at least one other portion of the cover plate constitutes a dead zone, from which no light is emitted.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such marker lights of the flush-mounted type are previously known, e.g. from SE-C-7803611-8 DK-C-113 912 and EP-B1-22106. The flush-mounted type has of course the advantage that the marker light does not have any protruding portions, and it can therefore be located at will on or adjacent to a runway or a taxi strip and can be run over by the wheels of air craft or other vehicles.
However, a problem in this connection is the cleaning and the snow-clearance of the runways, which requires the use of steel scrapers on the cleaning vehicles in order to obtain the desired result, especially when ice is present, which is often the case due to the heat emitted by the light device. Such steel scrapers often cause scratches and other damage to the upper, light emitting surface of the cover plate. In order to prevent such damages, it is proposed in the above mentioned SE-C-7803611-8 that hard particles be embedded into the light emitting, active zone of the cover plate, these particles protruding upwardly somewhat above the transparent material. Hereby, the light emitting, active zone of the cover plate is of course protected from damage in connection with snow-clearance by means of steel scrapers, but the hard particles inevitably cause an undesirable reduction of the light intensity and uncontrollable diffuse spreading of the emitted light.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to avoid this problem and to obtain an abrasive resistant marker light without impairing the light emitting properties thereof.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that an abrasive resistant material, which is substantially harder than the transparent material of the cover plate, protrudes upwardly from the cover plate exclusively in at least one dead zone, which crosses and/or confines the major part of the cover plate. Such dead zones, which do not emit any light, can extend as a strip across the cover plate and/or along at least a portion of the periphery of the cover plate. Hereby, the desired mechanical protection is achieved, while the emitted light is in no way disturbed by the hard material, which is preferably constituted by particles partially embedded into the surface of the cover plate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further advantageous features will appear from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, reference being made to the appended drawings, in which
FIG. 1 shows a marker light according to the invention in perspective view, partly in section;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the marker light; and
FIG. 3 shows the optical components schematically with their principal light rays.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The marker light shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises essentially a cylindrical metal casing 1 with a lower bottom plate 1a and an upper, substantially rectangular seat 1b, a reflector lamp 4 mounted at the bottom on a bracket 2, 3, a color filter 5, a transparent insulating plate 6, a light refracting plate 7 and an upper, transparent cover plate 8 fitted tightly into the seat 1b. As indicated in FIG. 1, the casing 1 is mounted in a well housing 9 with a lid 10, so that the upper surface of the cover plate 8 lies substantially in the ground plane.
The upper, substantially rectangular cover plate 8 is preferably made of a transparent epoxy plastic material, i.e., a relatively abrasive resist
REFERENCES:
patent: 1267967 (1918-05-01), Brunnworth et al.
patent: 3535504 (1970-10-01), Beal et al.
patent: 4112485 (1978-09-01), Sutter
patent: 4394715 (1983-07-01), Dahlberg
Cole Richard R.
Lazarus Ira S.
Raytech Optics AB
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